DIRECTOR'S NOTES:GEORGE CONTINI

Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit examines the American state of mind – the obsessiveness of our deep ontological need to define who we are in terms of position, class, consumption, race, and gender roles. D’Amour’s characters all suffer from classic existential angst. They’ve lost sight of what it means to “be in the world” because the world has changed and they have lost the power to reinvent themselves. They are grasping at their concepts of reality and identity.

The changes in globalization and technology have changed the types of jobs and situations available to them. Economic and social lines are blurred – who exactly is upper, lower, or middle class? Should education guarantee you a job, a home, or a family? What happened to the American pioneer spirit? Don’t I just need a brand and know how to use social media to succeed?

"Detroit"is about dreams becoming nightmares. It is about creating blue prints for the life you think you need to live, and most likely won’t. It is about our country’s fruited plains becoming a waste land.

By the way, this play does not take place in Detroit. Detroit is state of mind where the “American Dream” has imploded and the dust is still settling.

“I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” ---T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land